Die counter plate or make-ready for forming box blanks

ABSTRACT

A reusable make-ready or counter plate for cutting and scoring boxboard to form carton blanks is disclosed. The reusable makeready or counter plate comprises a mounting plate that is detachably mountable on the press and at least one cutting plate which is adapted to co-operate with knives and creasing rules on a male die to form a carton blank. The cutting plates are releasably retained on the mounting plate.

United States Patent [1 1 Gendron 1 Dec. 30, 1975 1 DIE COUNTER PLATE OR MAKE-READY FOR FORMING BOX BLANKS [76] lnventor: Walter P. Gendron, 150 Fairview,

Dollard des Ormeaux, Quebec, Canada 22 Filed: June 5,1974

[21] App1.No.:476,6ll

[52] U.S. Cl. 93/58.3; 93/59 R [51] Int. Cl. 831B l/l6 [58] Field of Search 93/58 ST, 58 -R, 58.1, 58.2 R,

93/58.2 F, 58.3, 59 R; 76/107 R, 107 C; 83/698 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 348,548 9/1886 Crump 76/107 C 4/1887 Fiske 93/58 R 2,682,208 6/1954 Monroe et a1. 93/58.2 R X 2,765,716 10/1956 Andersson 93/58 ST 3,213,767 10/1965 Tomak 93/58 R 3,250,152 5/1966 Kirby et al... 76/107 C 3,847,036 11/1974 76/107 C Miller Primary Examiner.lames F. Coan Attorney, Agent, or FirmC. A. Rowley [57] ABSTRACT A reusable make-ready or counter plate for cutting and scoring boxboard to form carton blanks is disclosed. The reusable make-ready or counter plate comprises a mounting plate that is detachably mountable on the press and at least one cutting plate which is adapted to co-operate with knives and creasing rules on a male die to form a carton blank. The cutting plates are releasably retained on the mounting plate.

6 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures U.S. Patent Dec. 30, 1975 3,929,059

DIE COUNTER PLATE OR MAKE-READY FOR FORMING BOX BLANKS The present invention relates to a die-cutting arrangement for the carton industry. More specifically the present invention relates to a new counter plate and/or make-ready for die cutting and creasing to form carton blanks.

Male dies for the carton industry are normally made by inserting knives into a plywood base along the lines where the board is to be cut and inserting creasing strips or rules into the base where the board is to be creased. The male die is locked into the cutting die press in a position to co-operate with a ground steel plate known in the industry for example as a jacket, counter plate or make-ready plate that has been suitably modified to form the make-ready for the specific male die being used.

The ground steel plate that forms the jacket or counter plate conventionally is madeof relatively hard steel ground to provide an accurate surface that cooperates with the knives of the male die to cut the board. As above indicated the jacket may also be built up in the areas to form a female dieor make-ready to co-op erate with, the creasing strips on the male die to crush the boardand facilitate folding of the board. The built up areas are formed by gluing material known in the trade as counterboard to the plate and cutting channels in the counterboard to conform with the creasing rules on the male die.

As above indicated, the jacket, counter plate or make-ready plate is hard steel witha ground or polished surface that co-operates with the knives. The plate covers the whole area of the press platen generally about one-quarter inch thick and is thus relatively expensive.

It is conventional to fabricate at least part of the make-ready on the counter or make-ready plate while the plate is in operative position on the press. After the i press has been operated to form cartons using the built up make-ready the make-ready is dismantled and the plate again utilized toform another make-ready to co-operate with another die to form another carton. As above indicated, these make-readies are formed by gluing counterboard to the surface of the counter or make-ready plate and are dismantled by dissolving the glue to free the counterboard from the plate. Thus when it is desired again to produce the first carton i.e. on a second run it is necessary to re-make the first make-ready (whichrmay take hours) before the first male die may be re-used. Obviously this procedure is relatively expensive and since at least in part the make-vv ready is normally made in situ in the press, the press may be inoperativesfora considerable period of time thereby adding further to the cost.

With the counter plates of the prior art it is not economically feasible to store a make-ready for further use and for this reason the make-readies are normally not permanent structures. In the carton industry, particularly for fibre box board type cartons it is conventional to store the printing plate and the male die for subsequent use, however, the female die or make-ready always had to be re-made.

The present invention provides a die system for a carton industry that permits economic storage of the make-ready for re-use.

The present invention provides a system wherein the make-ready may be made off the press and may be stored for re-use.

Broadly the present invention comprises a makeready or counter plate for the carton industry comprising a mounting plate, means for detachably securing said mounting plate in a press, at least one cutting plate adapted to co-operate with knives on a male die to cut the board from which the carton is to be made, and means for detachably securing said cutting plate in position on said mounting plate. Normally female die forming elements will. be attached to .the cutting plate to form a make-ready for co-operation with the creasing rules on said male die. I

Further features, objects and advantages will be obvious from the following detailed decription of a preferred embodiment of thepres'ent invention taken in conjunction with the'accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an isometric schematic view. of .a makeready formed in accordance with the pri orart teaching using a conventional jacket or make-ready plate.

FIG. 2 is an isometric schematic view of a makeready constructed in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional make-ready 10 formed on a jacket or make-ready plate 12 with built up sections 14, 16 and 18 formed from counterboard and secured by adhesive to the plate 12. Plate 12 is hardened, a grounded and polished steel plate of sufficient hardness to co-operate with the cutting knives on the male die (not shown) to cut the board. Generally the jacket 12 will be of a thickness in the order of about A inch and is secured in position to the bed plate of the press by suitable means schematically illustrated at 22.

FIG. 2 illustrates the present invention which comprises a make-ready 24 adapted to co-operate with a die 26 outlined in phantom lines and having cutting knives schematically illustrated by the dot dash lines 28 and scoring or creasing rules schematically illustrated by the dash lines 30.

The make-ready 24 comprises a jacket, counter plate or make-ready plate fabricated from a mounting plate 32 and a plurality cutting or striker plates. In the illustrated arrangement two cutting plates 34 and 36 have been illustrated. More or fewer cutting plates may be secured to the mounting plate 32 depending on the size and shape of the male die 26 with which the makeready is to co-operate. The cutting plates may, but need not cover the total area of the mounting plate 32.

The cutting plates 34, 36, etc. will normally be no wider than about 20 inches and will generally not exceed 3/ 16th of an inch thickness. By utilizing plates of these dimensions-it is possible to heat treat, grind and polish the steel substantially automatically in strip form thereby greatly reducing the cost per unit area of the plate, i.e. it is considerably more expensive to finish a counter plate of a size to cover the total platen of the press sincethis plate must be treated as an individual unit, whereas the small plates used with the present invention may be mass-produced. Also due in part to the large area covered by the prior art counter plates or jackets, these counter plates were relatively thick, in the order of 54 inch. Preferably the plates of the present invention will be between 1/32 and a 1/l6th of an inch in thickness.

The cutting plates 34, 36, etc. are detachably secured to the mounting plate 32 by mounting means such as bolts or the like schematically illustrated at 44 and the mounting plate 32 is in turn detachably secured to the bed of the press (not shown) by means such as bolts or the like schematically illustrated at 46.

The cutting plates, 34, 36, have suitably built up areas or strips 38, 40 and 42 which may be fabricated in the conventional manner by securing counterboard to the plates 34 and 36 by means of adhesive or the like. However, preferably the built up areas such as 38, 40 and 42 will be formed of material such as strips of aluminum, steel or the like that are permanently secured to the plates 34 and/or 36, for example, by riveting, welding, bolting, adhesive or the like to form a permanent make-ready.

Only the cutting plates 34, 36, etc. need be formed from hardened,'ground and polished steel to co-operate with the cutting edges of the male die. The mounting plate may be made of softer material such as aluminum or mild steel. The combined thickness of the cutting-andmounting plates will be substantially equal to the'thickness of the make-ready plate 12 normally used in the pr'e's s, ile. thickness T. The cutting plates 34 and 36, for example, may be l/l6th inch thick and the mounting'plate 3/l6th inch thick thereby providing a system that is relatively inexpensive since the ground plates 34 and 36 are relatively small in area (as shown occupying less then /sth of the overall area of the conventional plate,l2) and may be A or even less of the thickness of the conventional plate 12. In any event the plates 32, 35, etc. will not be more than inches in width and 3/16 inches in thickness.

The present invention is used in the press in the same manner as the conventional make-ready. The upper surfaces of the plates 34 and 36, etc. co-operate with the cutting knives 28 to cut the board while the built up sections 38, 40 and 42 co-operate with the scoring rules 30 to crease the board.

lt will be noted that the plates 32, 36, etc. are butted together as indicated at 45 and it was expected that this line would present difficulties in utilizing the invention, however, surprisingly it was found that the cutting knives could traverse a line such as formed by the butt joint.45 without any undesirable effects.

After each use the male die 26 and the whole makeready 24 including the mounting plate 32 and the cutting or striking plates 34 and 36, etc. are removed from the press and a new male die and corresponding makeready are substituted therefor. ,Thus the down time for the press may be maintained at a minimum since the make-ready is pre-built and need only be accurately mounted relative to the male die to permit operation whereas in the prior art because of cost a new makeready had to be formed in situ on the press after the new male die had been mounted in position.

It will be apparent that with the present invention the make-ready 24 may be pre-built, for example, by the die maker or the like and the corresponding male die and make-ready sent to the carton manufacturer who need simply mounts in the press.

As aboveindicated, after use, the make-ready is removed and may be stored for re-use. To facilitate storage the make-ready may be dismantled by separating the cutting plates 34 and 36, etc. from the mounting plate 32 and storing only the cutting plates 34 and 36, etc. and re-using the mounting plate 32 to mount a second set of cutting plates to form a second makeready for insertion in the press. Alternatively of course the make-ready including plate 32 may be stored as a unit.

If desired, a specific standard arrangement of mounting means may be provided on the mounting plate 32 to co-operate with a standard arrangement of mounting means on the cutting plates 34, 36 etc. to ensure accurate alignment of plates 34, 36 or the mounting plate 32 which in turn will be accurately mounted on the press.

It will be apparent that the make-ready system of the present invention permits better utilization of press facilities, also the present invention provides a relatively inexpensive counter plate or make-ready that may be stored for further re-use and one that may be pre-formed for example, by the die-maker or the like in his shop rather than being formed in situ on the press.

Modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A counter plate for use in cutting and scoring board to form carton blanks or the like comprising a mounting plate, means for detachably securing said mounting plate on a press, a plurality of accurately ground hardened steel cutting plates less than 20 inches wide and 3/16 of an inch thick adapted to cooperate with knives on a male die to cut said board and means for securing said cutting plates in abutting relationship to said mounting plate thereby to form the cutting surface of said counter plate, said mounting plate being made of different material than said cutting plates.

2. A counter-plate as defined in claim 1 wherein said cutting plate is formed of harder material than said mounting plate.

3. A counter-plate as defined in claim 1 wherein said cutting plates are l/32nd to l/l6th inch thick.

4. A make-ready for cutting and scoring boards to form carton blanks or the like comprising a mounting plate, means for detachably securing said mounting plate on a press, a plurality of accurately ground hardened steel cutting plates less than 20 inches wide and 3/16 of an inch thick adapted to cooperate with knives on a male die to cut said boards, means for securing said cutting plates in abutting relationship to said mounting plate, said mounting plate being made of different material than said cutting plates, built up sections on said cutting plates, said built up sections being adapted to cooperate with scoring rules on said male die and crush said board to facilitate folding of said board.

5. A make-ready as defined in claim 4 wherein said built up sections comprises strips of material permanently secured to said cutting plates.

6. A make-ready as defined in claim 5 wherein the material is metal and said strips are permanently secured to said cutting plates by welding or riveting. 

1. A COUNTER PLATE FOR USE IN CUTTING AND SCORING BOARD TO FORM CARTON BLANKS OR THE LIKE COMPRISING A MOUNTING PLATE, MEANS FOR DETACHABLY SECURING SAID MOUNTING PLATE ON A PRESS, A PLURALITY OF ACCURATELY GROUND HARDENED STEEL CUTTING PLATES LESS THAN 20 INCHES WIDE AND 3/16 OF AN INCH THICK ADAPTED TO COOPERATE WITH KNIVES ON A MALE DIE TO CUT SAID BOARD AND MEANS FOR SECURING SAID CUTTING PLATES IN ABUTTING RELATIONSHIP TO SAID MOUNTING PLATE THEREBY TO FORM THE CUTTING SURFACE OF SAID COUNTER PLATE, SAID MOUNTING PLATE BEING MADE OF DIFFERENT MATERIAL THAN SAID CUTTING PLATES.
 2. A counter-plate as defined in claim 1 wherein said cutting plate is formed of harder material than said mounting plate.
 3. A counter-plate as defined in claim 1 wherein said cutting plates are 1/32nd to 1/16th inch thick.
 4. A make-ready for cutting and scoring boards to form carton blanks or the like comprising a mounting plate, means for detachably securing said mounting plate on a press, a plurality of accurately ground hardened steel cutting plates less than 20 inches wide and 3/16 of an inch thick adapted to cooperate with knives on a male die to cut said boards, means for securing said cutting plates in abutting relationship to said mounting plate, said mounting plate being made of different material than said cutting plates, built up sections on said cutting plates, said built up sections being adapted to cooperate with scoring rules on said male die and crush said board to facilitate folding of said board.
 5. A make-ready as defined in claim 4 wherein said built up sections comprises strips of material permanently secured to said cutting plates.
 6. A make-ready as defined in claim 5 wherein the material is metal and said strips are permanently secured to said cutting plates by welding or riveting. 